If you haven’t noticed, the Nationals ballpark has essentially become a second home for Phillies fans in recent years considering several factors:

1) The Nationals don’t really have any fans
2) The Phillies have the most passionate fanbase in the world
3) Washington is close to Philadelphia

A home game for the Nationals might consist of 75 percent or more Phillies fans with the occasional Ryan Zimmerman or maybe Stephen Strasburg shirt. This has led the Nationals management to open ticket sales for the May 4-6 series against the Phillies, but only to fans whose credit card is from the following states: Maryland, the District of Columbia, or Virginia.

Nationals season ticket holders are encouraged to prevent Phillies fans from getting into their ballpark.

“Frankly, I was tired of seeing it,” Nationals COO Andy Feffer said. “Forget you, Philly. This is our park, this is our town, these are our fans, and it’s our time right now.”

Feffer has got to be kidding.

Does he really think this will stop Philly fans from getting into his ballpark? This only fuels the intensity. Sorry, Washington, that no one cares about your team.

The Nationals have long been a little sister to the team that has won five straight NL East division titles, and moves like acquiring Jayson Werth for an outrageous contract or Brad Lidge won’t make them a contender again.

Phillies fans pride themselves on being loud, outrageous, and passionate. This series will get ugly. You’ll hear about it in the weeks and days leading up to the game. Remember the rivalry between the New York Mets and the Phillies in 2007? If the Nationals get good, they become public enemy No. 1.

And they started it.

The Philadelphia Phillies were placed third on the list, behind just the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. SI cited the other emerging teams in the NL East as a possible reason that the Phillies may not win the division, as well as the loss of Roy Oswalt in the rotation and Ryan Howard for the first several months of the season.

The defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals placed sixth on the list.

The deal is at the minor league level and allows Durbin to make the big league roster if he performs well in spring training. Durbin posted a 2-2 record and 5.53 ERA in 68.1 innings with the Cleveland Indians in 2011. Previously, he had pitched three years with the Phillies, primarily as a seventh-inning man.

Durbin was at his best for the 2008 team that won the World Series, going 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA in 87.2 innings. For his career, the 34-year old has a 38-46 record with a 5.10 ERA for five different teams.

Durbin joins former Phillies players Brad Lidge and Jayson Werth on the Nationals.

Qualls was 6-8 with a 3.51 ERA in 77 appearances for the San Diego Padres in 2011. He pitched 74.1 innings, posting an 8.8 H/9 and 2.4 BB/9 rate. Qualls leads all major league relievers with 512 games pitched since 2005.

He has a 38-34 career record to go with a 3.78 ERA for four different teams. Qualls will likely fill the role of Brad Lidge, who signed with the Washington Nationals.

Stairs is a former postseason hero with the Philadelphia Phillies, and will forever be known for his mammoth two-run home run off of Los Angeles Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the 2008 National League Championship Series. This prompted possibly my favorite shirt ever.

Stairs hit 265 home runs in his career, topping 20 six times. He hit his career-high 38 in 1999 with the Oakland Athletics, finishing 17th in the MVP voting that season. Stairs last played with the Nationals in 2011, producing just a .154 batting average in 74 plate appearances.

Stairs holds the major league record with 23 career pinch hit home runs.

Young spent the last several years of his career with his weight fluctuating between 290 and 320. He is down to 232, and intent on playing again at the professional level.

Young last played in 2008 with the Washington Nationals, hitting .280/.394/.400 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in 180 plate appearances. He is primarily a first baseman at this point in his career.

Young is a two-time All-Star with a .292 lifetime batting average and 171 home runs. He won the 2007 NL Comeback Player of the Year award.

Amazingly, Burrell was 1-for-27 in his World Series career, but still managed to earn two rings. The lone hit was arguably his most memorable as a Phillie, as he doubled off the top of the left center field wall in Game 5 of the World Series.

Burrell was initially drafted first overall by the Phillies in the 1998 MLB draft. He reached the major leagues in just two seasons and ended up hitting 20 home runs eight straight seasons. He finished in the top 15 in MVP voting twice, although he never made the All-Star team.

The Phillies let Burrell go after the 2008 season and signed Raul Ibanez to a three-year deal to serve as Burrell’s replacement. Burrell signed with the Tampa Bay Rays for 2009, then played his final year and a half on the Giants. He hit just .230 with seven home runs last year with the Giants.

Pence had originally requested $11.8 million and the Phillies had submitted an offer of $9 million. The two sides were able to agree at $10.4 million.

Pence will become a free agent after the 2013 season, and there have been rumors that he will get a figure of close to $100 million. The Phillies obtained Pence midway through last season, and he hit .324 with 11 home runs down the stretch for the Phillies, helping the team win a league-high 102 games.

Ibanez hit .245/.289/.419 with 20 home runs and 84 runs batted in last year for the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the final season of a three-year, $31.5 million contract Ibanez had signed prior to the 2009 season.

At 39 years old, Ibanez doesn’t provide much value as a defensive player. Last year, the sabermetrics website, Fan Graphs, rated Ibanez as the worst defensive player in the National League. He can still provide value as a left-handed power hitter off the bench, especially since the Yankees can probably get him for around $1 million.

Pierre just finished a five-year, $44 million contract, the first three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the last two with the Chicago White Sox. Last year, Pierre hit .279/.329/.327 with two home runs and 50 RBI in 711 plate appearances. He also stole 27 bases and led the league with 17 times caught stealing.

The deal for the Phillies to sign Pierre seems unusual, as he is a left-handed hitter and corner outfielder, just like Laynce Nix. Pierre is first among active players with 554 stolen bases, and he has led the league in steals on three occasions. Pierre has also led the league in times caught stealing seven times, including each of the last two seasons.

Pierre is a .296 career hitter with six teams in 12 seasons.